InfoAnda - Merkel backs opposition's choice for president |

Pakistanis angry over detentions in Times Sq. case
Monday, May 24, 2010
ISLAMABAD – Relatives of three men detained by Pakistan for alleged links to the suspect in the attempted Times Square bombing say the men are innocent.
They

Taiwan denies boycotting Australian film festival
Thursday, August 6, 2009

AFP - Thursday, August 6TAIPEI (AFP) - - Taiwan's Beijing-friendly government on Wednesday denied boycotting an Australian film festival amid a row over the e

Merkel's support dips, regional ally resigns International
Thursday, September 3, 2009

By Sarah Marsh and Noah Barkin

BERLIN (Reuters) - Chancellor Angela Merkel suffered a double blow on Thursday as a senior party ally in east German

Minister seeks closure of anti-Berlusconi websites
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
ROME (AFP) - – The Italian government moved Tuesday to close down Internet sites encouraging further violence against Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, who

Asian markets mixed after Wall Street rally
Wednesday, March 18, 2009

By ELAINE KURTENBACH,AP Business Writer AP - Wednesday, March 18SHANGHAI - Asia's stock market rally seemed to be running out of steam Wednesday, despite an

Netflix shares soar on new streaming-only plan | 23 November 2010
Attorney: Man in JFK breach just used 'wrong door' | 18 January 2010
Britain warns Libya not to mark Megrahi release, a year on | 20 August 2010

Twin suicide bombings kill 99 in Baghdad | 26 October 2009

Forum Views () Forum Replies ()

Read more with google mobile : Merkel backs opposition's choice for president |

Edition: U.S. Africa Arabic Argentina Brazil Canada China France Germany India Italy Japan Latin America Mexico Russia Spain United Kingdom Home Business Business Home Economy Technology Media Small Business Legal Deals Earnings Summits Business Video The Freeland File Markets Markets Home U.S. Markets European Markets Asian Markets Global Market Data Indices M&A Stocks Bonds Currencies Commodities Futures Funds peHUB World World Home U.S. Brazil China Euro Zone Japan Mexico Russia India Insight World Video Reuters Investigates Decoder Politics Politics Home Election 2012 Issues 2012 Candidates 2012 Tales from the Trail Political Punchlines Supreme Court Politics Video Tech Technology Home MediaFile Science Tech Video Tech Tonic Opinion Opinion Home Chrystia Freeland John Lloyd Felix Salmon Jack Shafer David Rohde Bernd Debusmann Nader Mousavizadeh Lucy P. Marcus David Cay Johnston Bethany McLean Edward Hadas Hugo Dixon Ian Bremmer Mohamed El-Erian Lawrence Summers Susan Glasser The Great Debate Steven Brill Geraldine Fabrikant Jack & Suzy Welch Breakingviews Equities Credit Private Equity M&A Macro & Markets Politics Breakingviews Video Money Money Home Tax Break Global Investing MuniLand Unstructured Finance Linda Stern Mark Miller John Wasik James Saft Analyst Research Alerts Watchlist Portfolio Stock Screener Fund Screener Personal Finance Video Money Clip Investing 201 Life Health Sports Arts Faithworld Business Traveler Entertainment Oddly Enough Lifestyle Video Pictures Pictures Home Reuters Photographers Full Focus Video Reuters TV Reuters News Article Comments (0) Full Focus Photos of the week Our best photos of the week. Full Article Images of January Best photos of the year 2011 Follow Reuters Facebook Twitter RSS YouTube Read Iran stops oil sales to British, French companies 12:10pm EST Fifty years after Glenn flight, U.S. buying rides to space 10:30am EST Greeks protest cuts on eve of bailout decision | 1:36pm EST Santorum says Obama agenda not "based on Bible" 18 Feb 2012 Former kidnap victim Elizabeth Smart marries in Hawaii 8:52am EST Discussed 264 Obama proposes $800 million in aid for ”Arab Spring” 167 REFILE-Al Gore takes aim at ”unsustainable” capitalism 144 Romney’s struggles fuel talk of brokered convention Watched Funeral Service for Whitney Houston Sat, Feb 18 2012 Guests arrive at Houston's funeral home Fri, Feb 17 2012 Friends and family arrive for Houston funeral Sat, Feb 18 2012 Interactive Euro zone bank stress test calculator Use the Reuters Breakingviews stress test calculator to calculate how the Target core Tier 1 capital ratio and sovereign haircut levels affect the amount of capital banks need to pass the stress test. Full Coverage Merkel backs opposition's choice for president Tweet Share this Email Print Related News German parties back former rights activist as president 3:37pm EST Poll shows Germans favor Gauck as next president 8:45am EST German president resigns in setback for Merkel Fri, Feb 17 2012 Insight: The dark side of Germany's jobs miracle Wed, Feb 8 2012 Europe signs up to German-led fiscal pact Tue, Jan 31 2012 Analysis & Opinion What would markets and Merkel make of Hollande? Europe’s welfare rock has made it a hard, undemocratic place Related Topics World » United Nations » German Chancellor Angela Merkel (R) smiles during the presentation of former East German rights activist Joachim Gauck for the post of president at the Chancellery in Berlin February 19, 2012. Merkel's conservatives have backed popular opposition candidate and former East German rights activist Gauck to become president, senior coalition sources said on Sunday. Credit: Reuters/Thomas Peter By Andreas Rinke and Sarah Marsh BERLIN | Sun Feb 19, 2012 4:06pm EST BERLIN (Reuters) - German Chancellor Angela Merkel bowed to pressure on Sunday and agreed to back popular opposition candidate Joachim Gauck to become president, averting a political fight that might have distracted her government from solving the euro zone crisis. Merkel confirmed her support for Gauck at a press conference in the Chancellery with leaders of the other major German parties. The announcement paves the way for the 72-year old protestant pastor and former East German rights activist to be confirmed in the post by Germany's Federal Assembly in the coming weeks. "Let's not forget that we have churchmen like Gauck to thank for the success of East Germany's peaceful revolution," said Merkel, herself the daughter of a protestant pastor who grew up in the failed German Democratic Republic (GDR). Gauck will succeed Christian Wulff, a conservative Merkel ally who resigned as president on Friday in a scandal over financial favors. Wulff's departure was a blow to Merkel who pushed through his election in 2010 despite the fact many Germans and the leading opposition parties preferred Gauck at the time. By supporting Gauck now, Merkel exposes herself to accusations that she erred in her choice two years ago. But refusing to back him could have unleashed a divisive battle with the opposition that might have been even more harmful. Berlin is currently spearheading European efforts to save Greece from a chaotic default and Merkel cannot afford to be distracted by domestic political conflicts. The 72-year old Gauck was one of a number of pastors who played an active role in bringing down the East German regime, setting the stage for reunification in 1990. He ran the state-run archives on the Stasi after the Berlin Wall fell, earning recognition for exposing the crimes of the dreaded East German secret police. The opposition SPD and Greens, who nominated him two years ago, argue that he is the ideal person to restore credibility to the office after the premature departure of Wulff and his predecessor Horst Koehler, the former head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF). At the news conference with Merkel, SPD chief Sigmar Gabriel took a dig at her for refusing to back Gauck last time around. "We Social Democrats put forward Joachim Gauck at the last Federal Assembly and I am sure that since then, to put it cautiously, everyone regrets the fact Joachim Gauck was not elected," Gabriel said. A poll in the Sunday edition of German newspaper Bild showed a majority of Germans want Gauck in the post. Sources had told Reuters earlier in the day that Merkel's conservatives were initially reluctant to back him, instead favoring theologian Wolfgang Huber or Klaus Toepfer, former head of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). With broad support, the Federal Assembly is likely to confirm him as president without a hitch. The Assembly, a 1,244-seat body comprised of national and state representatives, must vote in a new president by March 18. (Reporting By Sarah Marsh, Andreas Rinke, Thorsten Severin, Thomas Seythal; Writing and Editing by Noah Barkin and Sarah Marsh) World United Nations Related Quotes and News Company Price Related News Tweet this Link this Share this Digg this Email Reprints We welcome comments that advance the story through relevant opinion, anecdotes, links and data. If you see a comment that you believe is irrelevant or inappropriate, you can flag it to our editors by using the report abuse links. Views expressed in the comments do not represent those of Reuters. For more information on our comment policy, see http://blogs.reuters.com/fulldisclosure/2010/09/27/toward-a-more-thoughtful-conversation-on-stories/ Comments (0) Be the first to comment on reuters.com. Add yours using the box above. Edition: U.S. Africa Arabic Argentina Brazil Canada China France Germany India Italy Japan Latin America Mexico Russia Spain United Kingdom Back to top Reuters.com Business Markets World Politics Technology Opinion Money Pictures Videos Site Index Legal Bankruptcy Law California Legal New York Legal Securities Law Support & Contact Support Corrections Advertise With Us Connect with Reuters Twitter Facebook LinkedIn RSS Podcast Newsletters Mobile About Privacy Policy Terms of Use Copyright Our Flagship financial information platform incorporating Reuters Insider An ultra-low latency infrastructure for electronic trading and data distribution A connected approach to governance, risk and compliance Our next generation legal research platform Our global tax workstation Thomsonreuters.com About Thomson Reuters Investor Relations Careers Contact Us Thomson Reuters is the world's largest international multimedia news agency, providing investing news, world news, business news, technology news, headline news, small business news, news alerts, personal finance, stock market, and mutual funds information available on Reuters.com, video, mobile, and interactive television platforms. Thomson Reuters journalists are subject to an Editorial Handbook which requires fair presentation and disclosure of relevant interests. NYSE and AMEX quotes delayed by at least 20 minutes. Nasdaq delayed by at least 15 minutes. For a complete list of exchanges and delays, please click here.

Other News on Monday, 20 February 2012
Senegal police clash with rioters as vote looms |
Merkel backs opposition's choice for president |
India police detain Italians accused of killing fishermen |
U.N. inspectors to press Iran over nuclear concerns |
Mexico prison fight leaves 44 dead |
China-Malaysia firm rejects S.Sudan accusations in oil row |
Whitney Houston laid to rest in New Jersey |
Undefeated on the gridiron of life. At Oscars, too? |
'Safe House' leads movie box office charts |
UN inspectors arrive in Iran for nuclear talks |
China paper says West stirs civil war in Syria |
Decision day for second Greek bailout |
North Korea ruling party called to endorse dynastic rule |
Merkel backs East German activist for president |
Frankfurt airport strike to continue on Tuesday |
Special Report: Myanmar declares war on opium |
Teenage Tibetan monk self-immolates, dies: rights group |
Prison fight kills 44 in Mexico |
Samsung shifts to new TV technology with LCD spin off |
LightSquared defaults on Inmarsat payment |
Fujitsu to launch mobile devices in EU market: report |
Wal-Mart increases stake in Chinese e-commerce firm |
Descendants, Midnight in Paris win Writers Guild Awards |
Colbert Report to resume production on Monday |
Putin to win Russian election in first round: poll |
Violence hits Yemen ahead of vote to launch reforms |
Myanmar lifts rally ban after Suu Kyi's party complains |
Putin says before poll Russia needs stronger army |
German presidency row shakes Merkel's coalition |
Nigeria army says kills 8 Islamists, stops 3 bombs |
Mexico's woman presidential hopeful gains favor in poll |
Apple's legal woes in China offer hope to rivals |
Internet again disrupted in Iran ahead of election |
An app for keeping kosher during Passover and beyond |
Alibaba to secure loan, eyes HK unit buyout |
Chip designer CSR boosts shares with $50 million buyback |
Adele set to steal show at BRIT Awards |
British actress Judi Dench says not going blind |
Greece at new risk of being pushed off euro
Bodies of missing Tenn. mom, Jo Ann Bain, and daughter found
Female Breasts Are Bigger Than Ever
AMD Trinity Accelerated Processing Units Now in Volume Production
The Avengers (2012 film), made the second biggest opening- and single-day gross of all-time
AMD to Start Production of piledriver
Ivy Bridge Quad-Core, Four-Thread Desktop CPUs
Islamists Protest Lady Gaga's Concert in Indonesia
Japan Successfully Broadcasts an 8K Signal Over the Air
ECB boosts loans to 1 trillion Euro to stop credit crunch
Egypt : Mohammed Morsi won with 52 percent
What do you call 100,000 Frenchmen with their hands up
AMD Launches AMD Embedded R-Series APU Platform
Fed Should not Ignore Emerging Market Crisis
Fed casts shadow over India, emerging markets
Why are Chinese tourists so rude? A few insights

USD EUR - 1 year graph		BlogMeter 1.01